Awards & Thanks

I’ve been very, very lucky to receive two awards recently. When I started this blog, I never thought in a million years anyone would be interested in hearing what I have to say. Color me surprised when I found out not only were they interested, but they cared, too. It’s funny how close you become to the people that you meet online, isn’t it? I am so thankful to live in this day and age when we aren’t as held back by silly things like money and borders and cultural differences. For all the internet has done to make life more complicated, there is one thing it has definitely done right: it has brought people together who never, ever would have had the chance to meet in the first place.

My first shout out goes to Jessica O’Neal. I doubt she realizes this, but I owe this girl a lot of thanks. She’s the one that first put this idea in my head to start a blog in order to build my brand as a writer. (Which, of course, falls back on the WANA ideals and the awesome Kristen Lamb.) She was the first person to follow me on Twitter, and the first person to subscribe and comment on my blog. AND she gave me my first award! Thank you SO much, Jessica. You rock!

“Liebster” is the German word for “dearest” and this award is given to new bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Jess gave this to me on December 30th. (Wow, has it been that long?) There are a couple of rules for accepting the award:

Thank and link back to the person who awarded it to you in the first place. Done!

Pass it on to 5 more bloggers and let them know. See my list below!

Then, on January 29th, Debra Kristi awarded me the Versatile Blogger award. Awesome! Debra has been another person who has really influenced me since we started chatting. She first pulled me in with her Immortal Monday series, then she let me guest post for her! She also encouraged me to get my name and face out into the world. I took her advice and that’s why I changed my Twitter handle and added a more professional picture of myself. She’s been instrumental in maintaining my confidence as a blogger and a writer. No compliment goes unnoticed by me, Debra. THANK YOU!!

For this award, I’m supposed to:

Thank and link the person who gave it to me. Done and done!

List seven interesting things about myself. See list below.

Pass the award on to 15 more bloggers. See list below.

Here are 7 interesting facts about me:

I’m an only child.

I’ve been to 8 foreign countries over in Europe. (Italy, Greece, Spain, Morocco, Ireland, and France. And, technically, the Vatican City is its own country. Plus, I was in Germany for an hour as we switched planes. Those count, right?)

I am obsessed with Greek mythology.

My favorite animal is the cheetah.

My goal in life is to prove to my high school classmates that they made a huge mistake when they didn’t vote for me as, “Most likely to write a novel.” The person they did vote for is now a nurse and most likely will not write a novel.

I graduated with a minor in Spanish, and I’ve also dabbled in Italian, Latin, and Egyptian hieroglyphics.

My top three worst fears (in no particular order, because I honestly can’t decide which is scarier): birds, grasshoppers, and large bodies of water.

So, about those people I’m passing my awards onto… Well, it turns out that I follow (and am followed by) some pretty awesome people. You all pretty much already have these awards! So, instead of handing them out, I’m just going to detail my favorite bloggers and beg the rest of you to go follow them. They’re some pretty fabulous people.

Note: If you don’t have either the Liebster blog award or the Versatile Blogger award, feel free to treat this as me giving it to you. If you do already have one or both of them, you can always just claim it again. It means you’re super awesome!

In no particular order:

1. Belle DiMonté is my Latin buddy, a poetess extraordinaire, and one heck of a beta reader. We have had some really awesome conversations, and I’m convinced that we connect somewhere on the ethereal plane. (Also, don’t miss out on her new ezineInto the Willows, which is accepting submissions for everything that has to do with high fantasy – music, poetry, fiction, and art!) She’s also launching a fantasy write-a-long soon, so be sure to check that out here.

2. Chris Stocking and I have a lot of shared interests, and his blog posts often reflect what has been bouncing around in my mind days prior to his postings. (Do you have a mind reading machine, Chris???) He’s also got Luthor the Potato who helps him with his word count. You should check him out!

4. Debra Kristi and I share a passion for the immortal. We bonded over Greek myths, but she’s got a whole lot of awesome content that falls under this category.

5. Natalie Hartford is one awesome lady. She has a way of making everyone feel like they’re a million bucks. She’s also got a way of making everyone who reads her blog ROFL. Her and her hubby would be great on reality TV.

6. Kristen Lamb needs no introduction, but I’ll give her one anyway: awesome, talented, and hilarious. Her blog is incredibly helpful, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that her WANA program has opened my eyes and made me a better writer. I can’t thank you enough, Kristen!

7. Fabio Bueno is ALWAYS passing out great compliments. He’s got a lot of neat stories to share, my favorite ones are here and here.

8. MJ Wright is one heck of a writer, and one heck of a person. His blog is always full of useful information for writers, funny asides, or intriguing questions. I always look forward to seeing what he’s going to write next.

9. Ddog is one of my newest finds. He shares my passion for movies and superheroes (just not my love for the Captain America movie 😛 ). His blog is FULL of great content centering around films, games, and books.

10. Jenny Hansen has saved my butt more than once. She introduced me to ROW80 (which has quickly become my favorite writing challenge) and Triberr. She is my Triberr guru. Go check out her posts on it.

11. Kaitlin Nichols from the Athele Series blog is another lover of Greek mythos. She’s got some really helpful posts on writing, and some random ones that will make you laugh. She teaches English while living in South Korea, which provides for some pretty great content.

12. Myndi Shafer is the Queen of Funny in my book. She somehow balances hilarity and inspiration to bring awesome blog content to us multiple times a week. And just when you thought the week was going to literally eat you alive, she posts little gems she calls Quick Giggles.

13. Jessica Salyer is a writing superhero, disguised as a nurse/wife/mom. (No, I didn’t get that backwards.) She’s just trying to follow her dream, and it’s nice to see her blog her way to achieving it. Thanks for the constant inspiration, Jess!

14. Alexandra Hoenig is my Art History buddy from college. Her main passion isn’t writing, but art and design. She is one amazing person, though, and I hope you guys check out her (newly formed) blog. Her current project? Creating a mannequin from scratch and making clothes out of recycled materials. You’ve GOT to check it out.

15. Coriander Shea Detwiler is another college friend. She’s a Renaissance woman – fantasy artist, actress, singer, writer, and entrepreneur. How’s THAT for awesome? Check out some of her art here, but be sure to look through the rest of her site, too!.

There you have it! Please pass this around so that these people get the attention and credit they deserve. Each and every one of you is so incredibly talented that I’m happy just to share the same cyber-space. A HUGE thanks to you all!

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Uwahh! Thank you or thinking of us! It is amazing how we can meet and greet people over the web like this, isn’t it? My favorite part of living in this day and age (besides airline travel, air conditioning, and readily available chocolate).

Congrats Karen on the much deserved luv and adoration.
And thank you soooo much for passing it along and the ahhmazing compliments. Sniff…girl…you know how to make a gal feel fahhbulous! THANK YOU!!
Love how you want to show your classmates they voted wrong – that’s awesome! LOL!!

Thanks! I LOVE Italian. (My boyfriend is also Italian, which is pretty darn awesome.) I’d really love to get back into it. It’s easy for me to pronounce because I’ve taken so much Spanish, but the verbs are a little more confusing to me.

Yes, PLEASE. If you do have any questions, hit me up on Twitter or I can give you my e-mail address. I’d love to help. Seriously.

Thanks, Karen! I just saw this. It makes me so happy to see how your blog is really starting to take off. You’re awesome! (I wish I had a time turner! Then I might actually be able to get some sleep. 😉 )